Chapter 2

Grace leaned over the bridge overlooking their camp. The sun was rising, illuminating the many tents and vehicles stowed away in hiding. It would have been a bleak sight had it not been for the buzz of people below - kids being kids and kicking a ball around and laughing; a group returning from a successful hunt, carrying a large deer on their shoulders; people just generally being busy and keeping the Second Mass running. People were in good spirits despite Tom's unexpected return.

She hadn't been back to see him yet. She didn't want to be a distraction, or maybe she was scared. Scared to see him in that vulnerable state.

Her gaze dropped down to the small blue butterfly between her left thumb and forefinger. A gift to herself shortly after she turned eighteen. Her best friend, Zoe, had convinced her to use her birthday money for a tattoo. Grace settled on a tiny butterfly. She traced a finger along it, remembering the sting of the needle, but the thrill of it was like nothing she had experienced before. It was the first thing she'd ever done for herself. A much simpler time when her biggest concern was how her parents were going to react to her small acts of rebellion.

"I remember when you got that thing," she heard Hal's voice coming towards her. He joined her, leaning his weight on the rail of the bridge. "Dad went ballistic."

She smiled. "Grounded me for a month. Mom was a bit more understanding. I think she kinda liked it in the end. She was just relieved it wasn't as big as Zoe's!"

"Ah, Zoe Maddison," Hal said with a nostalgic smile. "She was a wild card. A rebel without a cause."

"She could get away with anything," Grace chuckled softly, remembering Zoe's antics. "But she was a good friend. And she was the only girl at school who didn't have a crush on you!"

Hal feigned offence. "She flirted with me all the time?"

Grace rolled her eyes. "Only to mess with you. She knew you had an ego the size of Texas!"

They both laughed.

"So did you get any sleep last night?" Hal asked her, his tone shifting. "Your cot didn't look slept in."

"I traded shifts for sentry duty. I didn't feel like sleeping. Not with dad…" She looked back down at her hands. "How is he?"

"Anne got the bullet out. He's stable for now."

Grace sighed in relief. She glanced over at Hal, feeling guilty for her behaviour the previous night. "I'm sorry about before. I was out of line."

"We were all upset."

"But I was wrong," Grace continued. "Ben is one of our strongest fighters whether I like it or not. You were right to give him a gun. You're a good leader, Hal. What you did in Fitchburg...we wouldn't have made it without you."

Hal quietened for a moment. "Thanks, sis. You know, we wouldn't have made it without you either."

She snorted. "Yeah. Right."

"It's true. This family had its fair share of drama over the past few months and you got us through it. You got us all through it. You never gave up."

She smiled at him. His words meant more than he knew. She had lost count of the amount of times she had doubted herself since their father got taken away. It was a relief to know she hadn't been a complete failure.

"Look, Ben and I are going on the ambush tonight," Hal said. We could really use your help out there, if you're up for it."

She breathed shakily. As much as she wanted to fight, she would hate herself if anything happened to their dad while she was gone. The thought of seeing him in that state again made her shudder, but she wanted to make sure he was okay.

"I think I need to stay with Dad tonight. I wanna be there for him if something happens."

He nodded, giving her an understanding smile.

"Be safe out there," she added.

"I will."

She felt like an idiot standing outside that bus, eyes fixated on the steps like she was about to climb a mountain. She inhaled deeply, realising how ridiculous she was being. She had killed skitters, blown up mechs, and she couldn't even face her own father? She was ashamed. When she pictured him on that table, wounded and unconscious, she felt that dread when her mother was killed. The helplessness. The misery.

She exhaled and climbed the steps. What kind of daughter would she be if she let him suffer alone? Her brothers were risking their lives out there, the least she could do was take care of their dad.

When she walked onto the bus, she saw Tom wasn't alone. Lourdes was sitting quietly beside him as he slept, her eyes closed. Grace took a few gentle steps forward. Hearing her presence, Lourdes' eyes snapped open.

"Oh. Hey."

"Hey."

Grace focused on her dad. The colour still hadn't returned to his cheeks. He still looked feverish, but better than before. She sat on the other side of him, beginning to feel glad she came. Seeing him did actually make her feel better, even if he was sick. She could see that he was fighting and that gave her hope. She took his hand, surprised by how cold he was.

"I'm here, Dad."

"No…" Tom mumbled in his sleep. "We won't...we won't be your prisoners."

"He's been muttering like that for hours," explained Lourdes.

"What is he talking about?"

"Could be dreams? Memories?" the young medic suggested.

"Memories," Grace repeated, concerned. She observed Tom's wincing face. "He looks in pain. Can't you do something?"

"We've done everything we can, medically." Lourdes then closed her eyes again, placing her palms together. It took Grace a second to realise she was praying.

Grace watched her, a sceptical look on her features. "Does that help?" She had prayed before. The last time was at the school, a prayer initiated by Lourdes to give thanks during a meal. She remembered praying for Ben, wishing he'd get home safe. She wasn't sure it made her feel any better though.

"It helps me," Lourdes said quietly before going back to her meditation.

Grace looked at her dad, old and beaten. Almost defeated - but not quite. She was willing to try anything, so she closed her eyes and she prayed. She prayed for Tom, she prayed for her brothers, she prayed for the Second Mass.

Hell, she even prayed for herself.

The ambush was a bust. It turned out the aliens were targeting their vehicles by picking up the heat from their engines. They'd lost the bikes and the truck with a 50 cal last night. That meant they could kiss their ambush plans goodbye unless their new engineer, Jamil, could come up with a plan to cover their engines long enough for them to make a move.

The answer Jamil came up with was fibreglass. Covering the engines with fibreglass would apparently mask the heat of the vehicles until they got where they needed to go. The warehouses nearby were full of them. Grace spent the morning scouting them out with Jimmy. She'd found a small roll which seemed to encourage Jamil when she presented it to him.

She was glad she had decided to trust him back in Fitchburg. It turned out he had useful engineering skills for the resistance, but also a friendly and charming character. It was hard to dislike the guy. He'd already captured the affections of Lourdes. She had seen them kissing and holding hands over the past few weeks. It was sweet, actually, to see a romance like that blossom in an otherwise dark time. It made her wonder how different things might have been if she had left Jamil in Fitchburg. Or worse - shot him like she almost had.

"I heard your dad's pulling through," Jamil smiled encouragingly at her as he took the roll of fibreglass from her.

"He's in good hands."

"I'll look forward to finally meeting this Tom Mason I've heard so much about."

Grace smiled warmly at him, but her gaze was distracted by some movement through the trees. Her brothers. They appeared to be in a struggle.

Immediately, she rushed over to find Ben catching Hal's fist as it came flying towards him. She was taken aback. She'd never seen her brothers fight like this before. Ben's immense strength as he squeezed Hal's fist forced the latter to his knees. He grunted in pain. It reminded Grace of Rick's alien strength when he crushed her wrist with ease. He barely flinched or even cared about the pain he was inflicting. Ben seemed like that now, undeterred by Hal's suffering.

"I'm not the math geek you used to push around," Ben said, void of emotion as his iron grip continued to torture his older brother.

"Stop it!" Grace screamed. "Ben, you're hurting him!"

Ben didn't even acknowledge her; he didn't even blink. Hal had completely buckled beneath him, desperately trying to pull away - but their former math geek brother was far too strong.

"BEN!" she shrieked, afraid that he would break Hal's hand.

Ben finally released him, pushing him to the floor. Grace watched, speechless, as Ben stormed off back towards camp. She only just noticed poor Matt standing there, looking just as distressed as she was.

Maggie helped Hal up to his feet, but he pulled away from her, shaking the pain from his hand.

"Hal-" Maggie began.

"It's like I don't even know him anymore!" he replied, exasperated.

"What happened?" demanded Grace.

"Ben was teaching Matt how to shoot. Without even asking me. That kid is way out of line."

"I know."

"Dad's gonna have enough on his plate without dealing with him."

Grace exhaled loudly. "Hal, I know."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Wait, you know? You knew they were doing this?"

She chewed on her lip, nodding. "Matty asked me about it."

"And you said yes?"

"With some caveats, obviously…"

"I can't believe this." The look in his eye was almost resentful. "After the hard time you gave me for teaching Ben."

"I told you I was wrong about that. I accepted Ben wanted to fight. Now Matt wants a chance too."

"I didn't expect this from you, Grace. I thought we'd at least be on the same page about this."

"Believe me, I'd prefer none of you be fighters. But it's what you all wanted. At least he can learn to defend himself, so he doesn't end up taken like Ben was!"

"You should have at least discussed it with me first. Not as Weaver's second, but as your brother."

She paused, beginning to chew a cut on the inside of her cheek. "You're right. I'm sorry."

He shook his head, walking in the opposite direction. "I don't get this family anymore," he muttered before turning away. Maggie shot Grace an apologetic look before chasing after him.

"Hal!" Grace called. But he ignored her. She turned back to Matt who was understandably upset.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked her with a frown.

"No, Peanut. You didn't do anything wrong. As usual, it's my fault." She put a hand on his shoulder and led him back towards camp.

Once the vehicles were insulated with the fibreglass, Weaver's orders were to move out that night. Problem was, Tom was bleeding again and there was a mech convoy inbound. Anne inferred the sudden bleeding was due to a fragment she had missed. She and Lourdes would have to perform surgery, so Grace stayed behind with Hal, Ben and Maggie to keep guard on the med bus while the rest of the Second Mass made their escape. They would rendezvous with them later.

"We're gonna lay low and hope the mechs pass us by," Hal instructed the group. "No shots unless I give the order, okay?" He looked back towards Ben. "Hey. Okay?"

Ben nodded. Grace hoped he would keep his word this time. Emotions were still running high between the siblings, but at least they could band together about this. Protecting their dad was their highest priority right now.

It was close, but they weren't spotted. The mechs passed by, just missing them, so Anne was able to get the rest of the bullet out. It was morning by the time they caught up with the rest of the Second Mass.

Their new camp was at the dockyards by the Housatonic River. By the time they arrived, a base was already being established. Vehicles were being unpacked, tents and watch-posts set up, ammo stacked. The camp were pleased to see the med bus rock up with many people beginning to crowd round outside to see if there was any news on Tom.

He had fared well on the journey. His fever had calmed down considerably since Anne took the rest of the bullet out. Grace stayed in the bus with her brothers, waiting for him to wake up. Matt was asleep, leaning on Hal who was also snoring away. She didn't blame them. It had been a long couple of days and the emotional toll of worrying about their father had drained them almost as much as the physical stress.

Her eyes were drawn to Ben who appeared just as exhausted, but refused to sleep. He kept glancing behind the curtain to where their dad lay at the end of the bus. He was still sleeping. Anne was checking on him along with her other patients. She hoped he would wake up any time now.

Grace could tell a lot was going through Ben's mind: the guilt of hurting their dad, the conflict with Hal, and Grace had made a mess of defusing the situation.

"Ben," she said softly, leaning towards him. "I'm sorry I freaked the other night. It was bad luck what happened. It wasn't your fault."

He remained silent, barely looking at her.

"And you know," she continued, "me and Hal are only tough on you because we don't want to lose you again. Hal gives you orders to protect you, not to control you. You understand that, right?"

More silence. She sighed. There was nothing worse than dealing with an angsty teenage boy, except maybe dealing with an angsty teenage boy in an alien apocalypse. After a moment, he locked eyes with her. He nodded gently. She hoped that meant he understood. She'd hate to break up any more fights between him and Hal.

It was then they heard a mumbling on the other side of the bus. She recognised the low voice instantly. She leapt up, pulling the curtain back fully to reveal her father awake and talking to Anne. She was holding his hand but as soon as Grace entered, she disconnected from him.

"Dad?" Grace whispered, a lump in her throat.

He feebly raised his head to look at her, his smile gently growing. "Grace. How's my girl?"

She gravitated towards him, her eyes filling with tears. She grinned and as a tear fell, Tom reached up to wipe it from her cheek.

She sensed Ben standing awkwardly behind her. Tom's gaze drifted on to his son.

"It's okay," he said.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," Ben said under his breath.

"I know. Come here."

Ben shuffled closer, greeted by Tom's fatherly smile.

"It doesn't matter," Tom continued. "All that matters is that we're together."

"Dad!" Matt's excited voice interrupted as he shot towards his dad. Anne had to catch him so he wouldn't tear any of Tom's stitches.

"Look at what the cat dragged in," Hal smirked, coming towards them. "I missed you, old man."

"I missed you too. I missed all of you."

The siblings gathered around him, smiling, laughing, catching up. Tom's words rang true in Grace's head. Nothing else mattered. She had her dad back, and that made up for all the crap she'd been through these past few months. She couldn't imagine anything ruining this.

How wrong she was.